Jesse Jackson’s March

The Rev. Jesse Jackson boldly marched into Detroit to showcase a new workers’ initiative for “jobs, justice and peace.” He rounded up the usual collection of collaborators; labor leaders, seasoned and wannabe politicians and activists. Arm-in-arm they paraded down Jefferson Ave. to Grand Circus Park where he delivered a classic uplifting speech. Jackson departed, leaving the city pretty much like he found it – rudderless and adrift.

I don’t mean to suggest Rev. Jackson, the self-anointed champion of the working class, is the problem. Detroit is a city in crisis — a tragedy of terrible and costly consequences in lost hope, lost lives and a lost sense of community. But if marching could remedy what ails the dysfunctional city, the healing would have begun when Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his first “I Have a Dream” speech in Detroit almost 50 years ago. This march was less about Rebuilding America than it was about regenerating Jackson’s dominion and personal profile.

The march did, however, reveal how much Detroiters are starved for icons that are capable of formulating an aggressive plan for the city’s revival, if not survival. Thousands felt compelled to answer Jackson’s call. Arguably, the large turnout was a testament to the deepening crisis of intellectual impoverishment among those who profess to be Detroit’s leaders.

Nowhere to be found are respected community elders to provide roadmaps for residents to make a smoother entry into the heart of society. Missing are committed agents of change who see it as their duty and responsibility to speak out against self-generated destructive forces that hold back the poor.

As much as anything, Detroiters suffer from a poverty of the spirit. This behavioral deficiency reveals itself as a breakdown in the conduct and values that lead to self-sufficiency and the formation of healthy families and communities. An erosion of the work ethic, lack of educational aspiration and achievement, and the inability or unwillingness to control one’s children are all byproducts of the social deficits.

Establishing peace should start on the streets of Detroit, some of the deadliest in America. Violence has been a growing concern for years. Yet too few voices in the city acknowledge or rise to the challenges facing the current generation of youth — premature death, ending their mass imprisonment, preventing the uneducated and unemployed from becoming the city’s fastest growing segment.

Nothing contributes more to their joblessness than poor schools. But where were the voices of rage and indignation as the public school system with its daunting deficiencies imploded and deprived children of basic reading and math skills and opportunity?

Are the traditional voices of reason that encourage moral accountability, good manners and neat appearance immune or simply indifferent? With no positive reinforcement too many young people assume that these traits are neither expected nor demanded of them.

There are still caring people who do more than march, sing and pray. Some work doggedly and tirelessly behind the scenes every day to address adverse situations. They are surely the real and greatest heroes. Their small victories, though, are the only reminders of a bygone era in which a once proud, competent and respected leadership reigned. That leadership class is now impotent.

The city’s pressing needs require respected men and women to rise again and organically begin the serious interdiction and eradication of the dysfunctions that are now of historic proportions.

Those who answer the stewardship challenge will reinforce the enduring link between behavior, success and failure. They will collectively possess a uniform and clear message. They will stand as beacons and provide meaningful direction to the children and lay claim to their lives and futures. They will understand that modifying the behavior of people in distress is no task for the faint of heart.

They will not stage a self-serving rally in the heart of downtown. They will not be mesmerized by the likes of Jesse Jackson’s empty rhetoric. They will not march to his drumbeat into oblivion.

3 thoughts on “Jesse Jackson’s March”

The misplaced outrage is as much a symptom of Detroit’s problems as anything. Nobody said boo when those horrific test scores came out, for example.

Whenever one criticizes and analyzes Detroit, it’s almost always an exercise in stating the obvious. Everything you said is true; that, sadly, is the easy part.

Where will those people the city is crying for come from? That’s a horribly written sentence that I just typed, but it’s a valid question.

From your blog: “Those who answer the stewardship challenge will reinforce the enduring link between behavior, success and failure. They will collectively possess a uniform and clear message. They will stand as beacons and provide meaningful direction to the children and lay claim to their lives and futures. They will understand that modifying the behavior of people in distress is no task for the faint of heart.”

I chuckled and shook my head as I read the about Jesse’s latest march.

You know, I think Jesse Jackson has simply run out of ideas. Wouldn’t it be nice to see him do something “different”?

And by different I mean taking real action. His credibility has suffered as a result of always wanting to march for this….and march for that. The only real outcome from his recent March was what? Publicity! The media jumps all over this. He gets pasted on the news and people write blogs about him. He succeeds in only furthering his need to not be forgotten.

I would suspect he uses the old “March on….. (fill-in the blank)” plan to get the world’s attention. If that is his only goal then you have to give him credit. Mission Accomplished!

But I would really challenge him and others like him….(Tavis Smiley and his panel, you know…the stage full of black leaders all awaiting their chance to speak on why black people are where they are)…to also do something different.

Jesse Jackson isn’t the only guilty party that uses regular commentary on the “State of Black America” for their own personal gain. And in the case of Detroit….it just happens to be a good target right now. Making it the most likely poster child.

Marching is not the answer for Detroit. These televised panels are not the answer. I think that the answer is in its children. Consequently, if Detroit does just one thing…it should be to improve their schools. Start there!